A settlement was reached today before the Court of Appeal regarding the petition filed by national cricketers against a decision made by the Inland Revenue Department to impose withholding tax on them by treating them as employees of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).

The writ petition was filed by Sri Lanka’s national cricket players, challenging what they term as an arbitrary and unreasonable classification of national cricketers as employees of SLC by the Inland Revenue Department.

The petition was taken up before a Court of Appeal bench comprising Acting President of the Appeals Court Justice Mohamed Laffar Tahir and Justice Priyantha Fernando.

The court issued formal notices on the respondents, including the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) and Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), following an agreement between the parties for an interim settlement.

Accordingly, Sri Lanka Cricket agreed to make the necessary payments to cricketers, and it was also agreed that the relevant withholding tax amounts would be remitted to the Inland Revenue Department starting from June.

In the event that the petitioners receive a favorable verdict from court, it was also agreed that the taxes withheld in this manner would be refunded.

Additionally, a settlement was reached between the parties on several other related matters as well.

Meanwhile, these petitions were fixed for argument on 6th, 14th and 18th November this year.

Court of Appeal (Acting President) Justice Mohammed Laffar and Justice K. Priyantha Fernando issued this order pursuant to writ petitions filed by ODI Captain Charith Asalanka, Test Captain Dhananjaya de Silva and national women’s cricketers Chamari Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani.

Kuvera de Zoysa PC with Sajana de Zoysa, on instructions of Sanjay Fonseka, represented SLC.

Harsha Cabral PC with Vikum Jayasinghe and Manith Dassanayake on the instructions of Gamindu Karunasena appeared for the petitioners Chamari Athapaththu and Anushka Sanjeewani.

Counsel Nishan Premathiratne   appeared with Shenali Dias and Sidath Gajanayaka on the instructions of Gamindu Karunasena on behalf of the petitioners Charith Asalanka and Dananjaya De Silva.

Deputy Solicitor General Manohara Jayasinghe appeared for the Attorney General.

In a bold step towards redefining Malaysia’s presence in international cricket, the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) today (June 03) unveiled a comprehensive high-performance roadmap for 2025–2026.

Designed to elevate the national team’s competitiveness, the initiative introduces a refreshed coaching structure, an enhanced player development pathway, and defined performance benchmarks aimed at securing Malaysia’s rise on the global stage.

As part of this strategic shift, Dav Whatmore has been appointed as the Director of Cricket, the MCA announces.

“Dav Whatmore is a highly accomplished and successful gentleman that has played many roles in various full members. Whilst as Head Coach, Sri Lanka won the ICC World Cup in 1996 and has since produced many positive results. It is expected that the appointment will result in Malaysia building a total cricket structure that will connect the dots from lateral development to being a high performing country. Dav Whatmore would also play a leading role in building the women’s team as its moves ahead,” the MCA statement notes.

In addition, Bilal Asad has been appointed Head Coach of the National Men’s Team while Rakesh Madhavan has been appointed as Head Coach of the Men’s Emerging Team.

President of the MCA – Mahinda Vallipuram says :  “Malaysia has earned a strong reputation globally for consistently delivering world-class events. Now, it is time for our national teams to match that excellence with on-field performance. This structure represents our determination to transform Malaysia into a competitive force in international cricket. We are no longer content with participation—we aim to qualify, to win, and to lead.”

The IPL will have a new champion for the first time since 2016 after Punjab Kings (PBKS) beat Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad on Sunday night to set up a summit clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). 

Neither team has won the IPL before.

The IPL final will play today in Ahmedabad. Sri Lankan paceman Nuwan Thushara is among the RCB squad and he will fight to enter the final eleven.

RCB will be playing an IPL final for the fourth time, having finished runners-up in 2009, 2011 and 2016 to Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively.

PBKS have been in IPL final only once before, in 2014, when they were known as Kings XI Punjab and lost to Kolkata Knight Riders. 

The 2014 season was also the only time that PBKS had made the playoffs since the concept was introduced in 2011. 

Their captain Shreyas Iyer is the first IPL player to lead three different teams to the finals. 

He was the captain of Delhi Capitals in the 2020 final and led KKR to the title in 2024.

PBKS and RCB had finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the league stage, with nine wins, four defeats and one no-result each in 14 games. 

There was very little difference between their net run rates too. 

PBKS had beaten RCB in Bengaluru, RCB won the reverse fixture in Mullanpur.

They met in Qualifier 1 on May 29 in Mullanpur, where RCB dismissed PBKS for 101 and won with ten overs to spare to book their place in the final first. 

PBKS had to travel to Ahmedabad to play MI in Qualifier 2, and they beat them for the second time in the span of a week to qualify for the final.

RCB surely have the upper hand for the final match as they have more time to plan and recover for the crucial clash, having not played a match since May 29. 

It has been an eventful and thrilling season for IPL which saw many records being broken this year.

While RCB booked their place in the final by beating Punjab Kings in the Qualifier 1 convincingly in Mullanpur, it was a tough road for PBKS who had to play an extra game against 5-time champions MI in order to book their spot in the final.

For Punjab, it will be their ability to shrug off the memories of the Qualifier 1 defeat against their final opponents that will help them in overcoming a team that has been on top of their game for most of the tournament.

 (Agencies)